It was in 2014 that ideas began to form at BBC Worldwide, the BBC’s commercial subsidiary, regarding an ongoing project aimed at engaging the next generation of Doctor Who fans.

“My boss, Alex Ayling, has always had this ambition to go beyond using social media platforms as just marketing,” explains Chris Allen, producer of Doctor Who: The Fan Show, “and make original content, which of course offers a marketing element too. Yes, it helps strengthen brand engagement and those sort of things, but it’s also just a nice thing to do in its own right.”

That year, Chris’ team shot a pilot Doctor Who discussion programme called Bigger on the Inside – “which featured me as a contributor; it was that low budget.” As he explains, the idea was to find out whether they could actually turn around a production within a week. “We then took it to the Doctor Who team in Cardiff, and they were very gracious about it, but their priority at the time was launching Peter Capaldi. Understandable. So it got put on the backburner for a while.”

About Doctor Who Magazine

The bumper 100-page Christmas 2016 issue of Doctor Who Magazine contains a wealth of seasonal goodies including: a huge preview of the 2016 Christmas Special, The Return of Doctor Mysterio, with contributions from writer Steven Moffat and director Ed Balazgette; exclusive interviews with Matt Lucas, who plays new companion Nardole, and guest-star Justin Chatwin; a brand-new Christmas comic strip adventure for the Doctor and Jess: "Be Forgot"; a feature which reveals the Doctor's amazing superhero-like abilities!; The Fact of Fiction looks in-depth at 2006’s Christmas Special The Runaway Bride, with new insights from writer Russell T Davies; a look back at all the things that have happened in the universe of Doctor Who in 2016; The Time Team watch The Sarah Jane Adventures: Death of the Doctor and 2010's A Christmas Carol; a look at how the Doctor Who Pinball Table has been recreated for a new generation; the Watcher's fiendishly festive Christmas quiz; plus previews, reviews, official news and much more!